The Night I Almost Met Lynda Carter....

If you know me at all, you know that Lynda Carter is a favorite celebrity of mine.  In 1975, when I was 10 years old, Wonder Woman came on the air.  Back in that time, there was no Netflix, no on-demand, no TiVo, no VCRs.  If we wanted to watch something, we made sure we were home at the time it came on, or we waited until summer reruns, and try to catch it then.  I made sure I was in front of the TV each week when it came on.  Little did I know I would be watching this all these years later.

You might remember one of my blog posts, It Takes a Village.  In it, I mention how watching Wonder Woman helped me through the hard days of chemo, and surgery recovery.  I finally found a quote that really sums it up:

"People always ask me why I love Wonder Woman....  
It's because she reminds me to be strong when I don't want to be."  

I don't know who to attribute the quote to, but it really is fitting.  To help me remember, I have some Wonder Woman themed things -- sunglasses, the tiara, a few figurines, a water tumbler, Legos.  My keychain is a Wonder Woman Lego.  It might sound silly to you, but having the reminders help.

It's not just the Wonder Woman character.  It's Lynda Carter as a person.  She's never been tabloid material.  She's been married to the same man for over thirty years, and it's not a stereotypical Hollywood marriage.  Her husband is an attorney in the DC area, and as far as I know, they've lived here the whole time.

I knew that she tours as a singer, and it was on my "one day" list.  You know, that list you have in your mind where you put things that you want to do, but don't have the time/money/energy for?  Those things that when you see advertised, you think, "Oh, that would be cool.  One day...."  Well, my friends, One Day is here.  When I saw on her Facebook page that she would be at the Kennedy Center (another of my "one day" things; can you believe that I've lived in the DC area my entire life and have only ever been to the Kennedy Center for my kids' school field trips?!), I decided that I had to go.  I didn't get seats down front, they were sold out by the time I was able to get the tickets.  So, we ended up sitting three rows back in the upper section.  They turned out to be the best seats in the house.

It started normally enough, when a couple went to find their seats in the row in front of us.  We exchanged pleasantries, he joked that he would try to scooch down so I could see, I joked back that I've learned to bob and weave (I'm short).  His wife, though.  She was stunning. She struck up a conversation, saying that they were there to see her friend sing.  Her friend.  So of course I had to ask if she would pass along my thanks to Ms. Carter.  I related to her about how I got the DVDs of all three seasons of the Wonder Woman series from the library, and how they helped me through the hard days of chemo and surgery recovery.  She clasped my hands as I told her my story.  She said I need a tiara.  😊  As we were chatting, a gentleman came up the aisle and stopped to speak with her and her husband. After he continued down the aisle, Ms. Langhart turned back to me.  She told me that the gentleman was Robert Altman, Lynda Carter's husband, and that when he comes back, I would have to relate my story to him.  Then, during our conversation, while gesturing to her husband, she made a passing remark about "he was Secretary of Defense just before 9/11...."  In my mind I'm thinking, "Wait.  What?  Wow!"  She said it so nonchalantly.  I just don't know what she said after that; it was such a surreal conversation for me.   When Mr. Altman came back to his seat, she had me relate the story to him.  He asked me for my contact information, and three days later, an autographed photo came in the mail.  What a night!  Jimmy, Jimmy, and I sat in a theater inside the Kennedy Center, behind former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, his wife (turns out she's Janet Langhart, famous in her own right), Lynda Carter's husband, and their daughter (when she wasn't on stage with her mother).  Wow!  They were all so incredibly nice, and Ms. Langhart, you were just drawn to her.  Even after the show, Ms. Langhart turned around to see how we liked the show.  It was incredible.

On a side note, I want to say, watching someone watch their spouse on stage was amazing.  She sang a song that she wrote for him, and I swear I watched him wipe a tear from his eye.  I remember saying to Jimmy, "He is still enamored of her."

Ms. Carter, if you ever read this -- Thank you for the autographed photo.  I treasure it.

Ms. Langhart, if you ever read this -- I don't have the words to thank you enough, and I do hope our paths cross again so that I might thank you in person.  Maybe at next year's show?  😃






    

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